


The Unexpected Miracle that was Konoha Akinori

by tiredgaykeith



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Angst with a Happy Ending, Bad Pick-Up Lines, Cussing, Drinking, Falling In Love, Konoha gets the love he deserves, M/M, Mental Health Issues, Mild Sexual Content, Smoking, add tags as we go
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-04-28
Updated: 2017-06-05
Packaged: 2018-10-24 20:02:53
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 7,085
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10748820
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tiredgaykeith/pseuds/tiredgaykeith
Summary: It all started with a dare and a shitty pick-up line."Are you my little toe? Cause I'd bang you on every piece of furniture in my apartment."





	1. Of Bad First Impressions

Akaashi Keiji was a man who was composed and calm 99% of the time.

This was not one of those times.

Akaashi was currently standing in front of a sleek, steel storefront, the circular doorway open, loud indie music leaking out into the busy street. Above the doorway, there was a large, neon red sign. ‘ANTHEM’.

“Guess this is it,” Akaashi sighed, nervously peering inside.

He had had his job interview at a cafe not too far away from the store, making this his first time visiting it. It was a small, family owned shoe store that his roommate Yukie had insisted he apply to, apparently she was good friends with some of the workers. Akaashi had always had a good fashion sense and a natural charisma that made people like him, and even though he wasn’t that knowledgeable on shoes, he knew enough to be hired quickly by the young, eager manager that had interviewed him.

Nevertheless, this was his first job, just entering his second year at university. So yeah, he may have been shitting his pants.

Akaashi took a deep breath, composing himself, and walked into the store. He was greeted by the light scent of cologne, the rest of the store currently empty. While he could hear the music outside the store front, it wasn’t as loud as he first imagined it to be, just enough too play in the background as you shopped. The walls were white painted bricks, with metal, reflective shelves showing off hundreds of pairs of shoes, ranging from high end brands and limited editions to your basic Vans and Converse brands and a small kids section. Around the room were long white, plush leather benches for seating. It was actually a really nice design, Akaashi noted, not as intimidating as he found other shoe stores to be.

He walked up to the front counter, and rang the small metal bell.

He heard shuffling and voices from behind a dark red curtain behind the register that, he guessed, separated the store from the backrooms, sounding faintly like amusement and an argument, before a guy came out from behind it.

The guy was ever so slightly shorter than him, with shaggy blonde hair with an olive green beanie sitting on top of it. He was kinda cute, Akaashi thought to himself, letting his eyes drift over the black V-neck, green cardigan, and tight dark wash jeans that covered his lanky figure. He smiled at Akaashi, his dark brown eyes warm and friendly.

He leaned on the counter up to Akaashi, clearing his throat.

And that’s where it all began.

“Hello there, my name is Konoha Akinori at your service,” he said with a hint of nervousness in his voice, “And I just have to ask, are you my little toe? Cause I would bang you on every furniture in my apartment.”

If Akaashi had water in his mouth, this would’ve been the moment he’d cartoonishly spray it out of his mouth. But he didn’t so he just stood there, silent, mouth agape, feeling confused and more than ever, really creeped out.

“....Excuse me?” He finally managed, glaring at him and the guy’s cute factor plummeting to 0.

The snickering from behind the curtain turned into all out roars and snorts, two more guys appearing from behind the curtain, one spiky, black haired guy with an almost evil grin and a smirking blonde with thick black frames.

Konoha then let his face fall flat to the table, and Akaashi thought he was laughing too, feeling his anger rise inside him, before Konoha looked back up at him, face looking flushed and embarrassed.

“I really am so sorry, it’s not what you think-”

“Hey!” a loud but familiar voice shouted out from behind them.

A short but muscular guy, with a dark brown undercut, walked in carrying a cardboard tray of coffee cups.

The man, who Akaashi remembered as Komi from the interview, saw Akaashi and smiled, before turning and glaring at the other three behind the counter.

“I leave for ten minutes and you guys are fucking around in the back room again?”

“It’s slow on Mondays, you know that,” grumbled the blonde.

“I don’t care, find something to do, and stop harassing the new guy!”

All three perked up at ‘new guy’.

The black haired guy and the blonde looked at him slightly interested, the black haired looking friendlier than the other.

And then there was Konoha, who looked like he was wishing he could just sink six feet into the flooring.

“Oh my god, oh no, you, you are the new guy?” Konoha said, eyes wide.

The black haired guy broke out into another manic laugh, wiping tears from the corner of his eyes.

“Nice first impression, Konoha,” he said slyly, before stretching his hand out to Akaashi, “Kuroo Tetsurou. The grumpy blonde is Tsukishima Kei, you can call him Tsukki tho-”

“No,” the blonde said, already disappearing into the back room again, “You definitely cannot. And neither can you, Kuroo-san.”

Akaashi took his hand and shook it firmly. “Akaashi Keiji,” he looked down a bit concerned at Konoha, “Pleasure to be working with you, I think.”

Konoha flushed again at the end of his statement, Kuroo laughing again before following Tsukishima.

Komi rolled his eyes, headed for the room. “Come on, Akaashi-san. I’ll show you the ropes.”

Akaashi walked around the counter, ignoring the weird blonde guy in all of his embarrassment and hoping that at least a few of the employees were sane around here.

 

* * *

 

Komi had led him to a small office, giving him a simple overview of what he’d be doing in the store. Stocking shelves, taking inventory, manning the register, making sales, etc. For each sale he made a 10% commission, but after a year that percentage would get higher. Komi was the official manager, but the owner Yumiji still came in frequently throughout the week. Kuroo, the one with the sly grin and crazy hair, was one of the assistant managers, the other being someone named Daishou, though apparently today was his day off.

Once Komi had gone over everything with Akaashi and had him finish some basic employment paperwork, he handed him over to Kuroo to teach him how to inventory the stock.   
Which led Akaashi here, trying to find a missing size 7 in the large storage room, while Kuroo was telling him about the other employees.

Or well, just one really, that he had been talking about for the past five minutes.

“You really are lucky it’s me teaching you this stuff, Akaashi-san,” Kuroo said, grumbling while looking through another rack of boxes, “Daishou can’t teach people shit. He tried teaching Yachi-chan when she first started working, the poor girl was lost for a whole month, couldn’t even figure out how to log into the inventory system.”

“Ahh, I see,” Akaashi said back, hoping his disinterest didn’t show too much.   
Kuroo chuckled, walking over to where Akaashi was bent over by the rack of shoes, leaning a bit closer than one would perceive as just being friendly.

“But enough about this place,” Kuroo’s eyes sparkled with mischeif, “Tell me about you. You in school?”

“Yep,” Akaashi said, finally finding the missing shoes and placing them on the right shelf, “Keio.”

“Ahh, fancy,” Kuroo purred, “Private university kinda guy, huh? Bet you meet a lot of cute girls there, or-” Kuroo side glanced over at him. “Cute guys?”

Akaashi snorted at Kuroo’s not-so-hidden attempt at flirting. “I guess some of the guys are appealing, I’m not really looking right now.”

“Oh, really now?” Kuroo asked, about to continue before they both heard a loud shout from the front of the store.

“Hello?! Anyone here?!”

Akaashi sighed both in relief and a slight annoyance at the familiar voice. He told Bokuto not to come on his first day, but he’d forgive him since he’s saving him from Kuroo’s advances.

“Sorry, Kuroo-san, I’m just not interested in dating, or otherwise, right now,” Akaashi stated,, heading to the door that connected to the front of the store.

“Ah, okay, I had to try at least.”

“You try with everyone that walks into the store?”

“Nah, just the hot ones-”

“‘Kaashi!”

Bokuto’s golden eyes locked onto Akaashi as soon as he saw him, face lit with his signature excitement. He was dressed head to toe in sportswear, meaning he must be on break from his job at the sports shop down the street. He wore Adidas black joggers, a black shirt with a Nike logo, and his favorite metallic silver track jacket with purple lining. And of course, as always, a pair of odd colored sneakers that were probably worth more than Akaashi’s monthly rent. These pair today were a bright purple with orange soles and stripes.

“Bokuto-san, I thought I told you not to come today,” Akaashi glared at him, making his excitement turn to nervousness in a few seconds.

“Oh, ah, right,” Bokuto mumbled, “But I wanted to see how you were doing and it was my lunch so I-”

He suddenly paused, noticing the guy behind him. He looked him up and down, before his eyes fell to his feet.

“Holy shit!” He exclaimed, “Are those 2004-”

“Air Jordan Retro-” Kuroo started.

“2 ‘Melo’?” Bokuto finished, staring at the shoes in wonderment, “Incredible.”

“Name’s Kuroo Tetsurou,” Kuroo purred, voice as smooth as it was just a moment ago with Akaashi, now aimed at Bokuto, “Those are the ‘Auburn’ Nike Trainers, right? I’ve been trying to get my hands on them forever.”

“Oh yeah! I got them off this awesome secondhand seller downtown, he has the sickest collection,” Bokuto started talking up a storm to Kuroo, Akaashi thinking he must’ve completely forgotten why he came here.

“You know, I got a pretty large collection back at my apartment, too,” Kuroo said,  that sly grin playing on his face again, “Maybe you should stop by more often, and sometime I can show you.”

Not everyone my ass, Akaashi rolled his eyes. Then again, Bokuto was good looking, you’d have to be blind to miss that.

Bokuto gave him a questioning look, before he smirked, finally realizing Kuroo was interested in Bokuto for more that just his shoes. “You’re right, I definitely should stop by more often.”

Well, at least his best friend found Kuroo’s advances charming. A customer walked into the store, so Akaashi decided to let the two sneakerheads talk while he attempted to make his first sale. He noticed how Kuroo leaned into his best friend as he talked excitedly, a light, pleasant grin crossing his face. He also couldn’t help but notice the way Bokuto’s eyes kept drifting over the other man’s body.

Maybe Akaashi wasn't interested, but Bokuto on the other hand definitely was. Good for them, Akaashi thought to himself while the woman looked over the sneakers section. If Bokuto was interested in Kuroo, than he probably was a pretty genuine guy, despite his incessant flirting. Akaashi trusted Bokuto’s intuition.

After helping the woman find the pair of running shoes she needed, Bokuto bounced back up to Akaashi at the front register.

“So, tell me!” He demanded, Kuroo leaning in behind him, “How’s the first day going so far?”

“It started...” Akaashi thought for a moment, “eventful I guess.”

Kuroo snickered. “Ah, yeah. That. Maybe you should let Konoha explain that one for you. He's not bad, actually a pretty decent guy.”

Akaashi narrowed his eyes, “A decent guy who drops a very perverse and quite frankly terrible pick up line on a random person he thinks is a customer?”

Kuroo was about to say something, when something caught his eye behind Akaashi.

Akaashi turned around to see Konoha behind him, looking still red faced and awkward as ever.

“It really wasn't like that, Akaashi-san,” Konoha said, rubbing his neck and evading Akaashi’s calculating gaze, “It was a really stupid and immature dare.” Konoha’s darted to Kuroo, who looked away pretending not to notice. “I lost this ridiculous bet and I didn't choose the line, Kuroo and Tsukki found it online and they chose who I had to say it to, not me and-”

“It's fine, Konoha-san,” Akaashi said, and he decided quickly that really was.

Akaashi liked the job so far, and if he was going to stay here, he needed to be on good terms with everyone in the store. That included Konoha. And it wasn't like he really disliked Konoha, in fact, Kuroo seemed right, he seemed to have good intentions.

Konoha smiled back at him gratefully, and Akaashi returned it. Two fathers and a small girl came through the front of the store, Konoha excusing himself to go help them.

“See?” Kuroo said, Bokuto distracted with Kuroo’s phone in his hand, looking through photos of different sneakers, “Aki's a decent guy, give him a chance.”

Akaashi watched the sandy blonde show the little girl a pair of pink and blue sandals, a large and affectionate smile on his face.

Yeah, maybe he really was.


	2. Of Misunderstandings and Friendships

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which both Konoha and Akaashi have a shitty few weeks.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey there! Before you begin reading, please re-check the tags. I added a few. More will be explained in the end notes. Enjoy!

Akaashi left his first day of work confident that the rest of the week would have better days.

Akaashi was wrong, and despite his overwhelming patience in even the dimmest of situations, Konoha was just pissing him the fuck off.

 

The next time it had happened was the very next day. Today Tsukishima, Konoha, and Komi were working again, along with the other assitant manager, Daishou.

Daishou wasn’t nearly as bad as Kuroo had suggested, though he did notice when how when he brought up the later in conversation, his face turned into a sneer so spiteful it almost felt vulgar.

“What a shame. Your first day was with that dipshit?,” Daishou asked as he surfed through the computer looking for a pair of heels of a girl wanted to order, “He’s a damn idiot, immature and self-centered, it’s like he never left high school.”

Akaashi was too amused by the man’s spite to tell him Kuroo had said almost the exact same thing about Daishou the previous day.

Daishou didn’t seem too bad, he was great with customers and couldn’t stop talking about his girlfriend Mika, who was even his lock screen on his phone. If it hadn’t been for his incessant, lovesick rambling about his girlfriend, he might have even intimidated Akaashi. Daishou had a slick side part that hung over his left eye, and dressed head to toe in black, from his tight fitted shirt, ripped jeans, and Dr. Martens boots. And was that hints of black eyeliner around his eyes? Akaashi almost wanted to ask him if he still listened to Escape the Fate, but he figured that maybe he should hold a week or two more before beginning his typical humor. Over all, Daishou was a decent person, and a good assistant manager, giving Akaashi advice and plenty to do around the store.

“Akaashi-san, if you don’t mind, could you go take care of the sales racks?” Daishou asked, pointing to the messy 25% off rack, “It’s a sore sight.”

“Yeah, sure,” Akaashi said.

He didn’t think it’d be that big of a project, to be honest, but was he wrong. So very wrong. Once he actually got to the racks, he realized the mess people had made. Almost none of the shoes were in the right spot for size, some of the shoes didn’t even have a pair, they were just a single, lonely shoe. He sighed, before rolling up the sleeves on his red and black flannel and getting to work. Retail.

After spending a full hour on cleaning the sales racks, he was almost finished, just searching for anymore “one of a kinds” as he dubbed them, when he heard footsteps behind him.

“Hi, Akaashi-san,” Konoha’s cheerful voice broke the atmosphere of productivity and silence he had built around him, “Wow, you really outdid yourself. I haven’t seen the sales section looking so clean since when Kiyoko-san still worked here.”

“Morning, Konoha-san,” Akaashi said, “Thanks, is this section always so messy?”

Konoha chuckled softly. “Unfortunately.”

Akaashi noted to himself that today his beanie was a deep maroon. He wore a comforting smirk (Could smirks be comforting? Akaashi decided not to think on it too much) on his face, his brown eyes revealing a small twinkle of nervous, and just maybe, hope?

“Can I help you out?” he asked hesitantly.

“Huh? Oh yeah, of course, go ahead,” Akaashi said, facing away from him and trying to find that damn blue sneaker from earlier, “Just watch out for those boxes to the right-”

A brutal crash sounded behind him, and he flinched hard before, almost comedically, slowly turning around, ready to face to horror he knew laid behind him.

Konoha was flat on the ground, laying on top of what was once Akaashi’s well organized, masterpiece of a shoe rack, now just messed up shelves with large piles of shoes splayed out in all directions on top and around it.

Daishou calmly walked over, bent down and whispered something into Konoha’s ear, causing the other to immediately sit up try to grab the assistant manager, anger and embarrassment lighting up his face like a stop light.

“You damn snake I’m gonna-”

“Konoha-san.”

Both Daishou and Konoha turned to face him, their faces falling into an almost fearful look.

You see, Akaashi was patient. Exceedingly patient. How else would you be Bokuto Koutarou’s best friend for four years and never once tell him to shut up? It took skill.

But there was something about Konoha, and Akaashi couldn’t figure out what, but it made him seeing red, angered beyond what he thought comprehensible for him, practically into the next realm of reality of “ready to fuck someone up,” as Bokuto would have called it.

Konoha gulped. “A-Akaashi-san-”

“Maybe you should go back to helping Komi-san in the back. I’ll...” Akaashi took a deep breath, before recomposing himself, “I’ll fix it. Don’t worry.”

Akaashi almost felt bad for the way Konoha’s face fell, stricken with sadness, reminding him of the way Bokuto pouted during one of his moods. But he quickly got up, nodding, saying something about a box he left in the backroom anyways, and quickly hightailed it out of there.

Daishou sighed, watching Konoha leave, before turning back to Akaashi. “Listen, I know he’s a bit of a mess but-”

“Yeah, I know,” Akaashi said, picking up the rack with Daishou’s help, “He’s a decent guy. So I’ve heard.”

 

Two days later was the next time it happened. Another day at the store, today Kuroo, Komi, and Tsukishima were back, along with two new workers he hadn’t met, Yachi and Saru.

Akaashi could already tell he would adore Yachi from the moment he met her, her big, blue eyes shy but her smile was bright and warm. She seemed eternally a bit nervous, which was understandable in her position, Akaashi thought. She was notably tinier than everyone else in the store and apparently was the only girl left working there currently, since the last girl who worked there, Kiyoko, got a job working in fashion merchandising for a big name company. Yachi talked about Kiyoko like she was the most inspirational and kindest person you’d ever meet, and seeing the way a light pink blush filled her face and her eyes sparkled with admiration, maybe to Yachi she was.

Then there was Saru. He was a funny guy with a smile that never seemed to leave his face, Kuroo calling it “Resting Nice Guy Face” which led to Saru throwing an empty shoe box at him. Akaashi could tell he’d also be easy to get along with.

It was around lunchtime when Akaashi realized he had forgotten his packed lunch at home, which already made him more irritated than usual because a) he would have to go and buy food, which is wasted money, and b) it’d be a lot of wasted money because the resturants in this area were expensive and Akaashi had one hell of an appetite. Usually he’d just text Bokuto  to get him food, since he worked just down the street and had a car unlike Akaashi, but today was one of Bokuto’s days off. While he was googling places to find somewhere with vegan options (yeah, he knows, he’s THAT guy), Konoha came into the back room, grabbing his backpack and keys, and noticed the frown on Akaashi’s face.

“Hey, Akaashi-san, what’s wrong?” He asked, innocently, leaning over the table in the middle of the room, across from where he was sitting.

Today the beanie was dark blue, but that twinkle in his eyes remained. For some reason, that made Akaashi’s earlier irritation melt.

“Nothing,” Akaashi grumbled, “Forgot my lunch today, need to go buy some.”

Konoha’s face lit up almost instantly. “Oh, I’m about to go grab some food for me and the rest of the guys down at this great burrito place. What do you want? I’ll grab you one.”

Akaashi looked over to him, a bit of worry showing in his eyes. “You sure, Konoha-san? I’m kind of, for dietary reasons, vegan so-”

Don’t worry, they have vegan options too!” Konoha said, full of cheer and already almost out the room, “Text me what you want!”

Akaashi sighed as they left, but quickly shot a text to Konoha, thanking the fact they had all traded numbers the other day. At least he could finish his essay before they got back and still get food. He smiled a little bit, thinking of how brightly lit up from the inside Konoha looked when presented with a way he could help Akaashi. Konoha seemed to light up from the inside, beaming from both his deep brown eyes and bright, toothy grin. Kuroo was bugging him nonstop saying that Konoha was just trying to make friends and that Akaashi should give the guy more attention, and while Akaashi didn’t want to give Kuroo the satisfaction of being right, he knew he was right. After all it wasn’t Konoha’s fault every interaction with him either left Akaashi blushing from his cheeks to his toes, or filled with so much irritation and annoyance he probably appeared to be blushing either way.

“Ohohoho, what do we have here?” A sly voice chimed into the room as Akaashi typed away on his laptop.

“Speak of the devil and he shall appear, they say,” Akaashi sighed.

Kuroo ignored the jab and sat across from him, putting his feet up on the table as he leaned back into the metal chair. His signature smirk, as Akaashi had learned, danced across his face. “Private school kid doing his homework on breaks? How proactive.”

“Yes well, some may find doing work a better activity to do in their free time than, say, sexting my best friend during work hours.”

Kuroo’s eyes widened for a moment, and Akaashi saw traces of a blush on his cheeks. Akaashi finally had a chance to give Kuroo his own smirk back. Ah, so the guy did have some shame apparently.

Yes indeed, the two boys’ relationship had seemed to take off right from the get go, like most of Bokuto’s flings seemed to do. Bokuto came around almost everyday to the store, swearing he was coming for Akaashi but spent most of the time flirting with Kuroo. While Bokuto insisted to Akaashi that they were just friends with benefits at the moment, Akaashi knew Bokuto. He acted like a player, talked like a player, but when it came to who he really was, Bokuto craved human connection more than any person he knew. He craved being in a real relationship, getting to know people from their outmost layer to their very core. It’s one of the reasons their relationship had formed so deep over the years. Question was, could Kuroo understand that?

“H-how did you-”

“Calm down,” Akaashi said, putting away his laptop, knowing he wouldn’t be getting any work done after all, “Bokuto told me you guys were sexting the other night. Don’t be angry, he literally tells me everything.”

Kuroo was still a bit guarded though, Akaashi could tell from his shifting eyes that were now staring holes into his cellphone on the table.

“Look, Kuroo-san,” Akaashi said, “I don’t care what you and Bokuto-san do together. That’s your business. And I trust that Bokuto knows what he’s doing with you. Despite what you and others may think, Bokuto-san has a good head on his shoulders. He only runs with people with the best intentions. Even if running with them means sexting during work hours. Which really shouldn’t you save that for home?”

Kuroo visibly relaxed a bit, “Thanks, Akaashi. Me and Bo, we really are just friends right now, but it’s good to know you trust me with him. He talks about you all the time, you know? I get it, me and Kenma are like that, too.”

Kuroo gave him a sincere smile that caught Akaashi off guard, but he quickly returned it. Yeah, Bokuto had good taste in people.

“By the way,” Kuroo leaned forward, the smile quickly replaced by that smirk again, “The sexting thing? You shouldn’t knock it until you’ve tried it-”

“Food time!” Konoha walked in carrying two large, plastic bags, while Komi had the drinks in hand.

“Thank god,” Akaashi grumbled, Kuroo snickering.

Konoha set the food out onto the table and made sure everyone got their order, all the guys were there except Yachi and Tsukishima, who were manning the front. Konoha even made sure to personally hand off Akaashi’s to him, giving him a small wink with those chestnut eyes that made Akaashi heart do a flip-

Wait. No.

Akaashi immediately scratched the previous thought from his brain, unwrapped the burrito, and without checking it to make sure it had no meat or dairy like he usually did, he took a large bite and swallowed.

Akaashi’s eyes lit up, and let out a sound of satisfaction as he closed his eyes and savored the taste.

He was practically in heaven, until he heard the snickering.

Akaashi opened his eyes and glared at his co-workers, Komi and Kuroo who were snickering and Konoha red and staring at him with an odd expression.

“Wha’?” Akaashi said, taking another large bite.

“Did you just have a fucking orgasm from that burrito or something?” Kuroo broke his snickers into his manic laugh that irritated the hell out of him.

“No,” Akaashi pouted, “It’s just so good, though.”

He took another look towards Konoha who had looked away. Akaashi sighed.

Or, at least, he tried?

Akaashi noticed it was a lot harder than usual to breath suddenly. He looked down and for the first time, actually looked at what he was eating.

“Fuck”, Akaashi swore, or more, wheezed out.

Konoha must’ve gotten just the regular veggie burrito or forgot to check they made it right, because Akaashi could see the goops of sour cream among the bits of rice, lettuce, tomato, and guac.

“What’s wrong, Akaashi?” Komi asked, concerned.

“Your face is getting kind of... red?” Saru said, “You good?”

Akaashi quickly shook his head no, putting the burrito on the table and trying to grab his backpack under the table for his Epi-pen. His heart felt like it was gonna burst right out of his chest from beating so fast, itches crawling down his arms. He finally got ahold of his bag but struggled to open the zipper with his shaky hands.

“All-aller-”

“What, what is it?” Konoha came rushing to his side again from his seat across the table, a gentle hand on his shoulder, but instead, that just pissed Akaashi off even further.

Akaashi turned and gave Konoha a hard glare.

“Allergic, diary,” Akaashi managed to wince out. Shit, his throat was closing fast.

He saw Konoha, Komi, and Saru’s faces all turn white. Kuroo grabbed the backpack quickly from Akaashi.

“Where is it? “ Kuroo, said already looking through the front pocket.

“Second..” Akaashi felt his head get lighter.

Kuroo retrieved the yellow pen shaped tem from the bag and quickly uncapped it, moved around to Akaashi’s side.

“Hold him still, Konoha,” Kuroo, said, before mumbling under his breath, “Like hell am I letting you die on my watch. Bo’d murder me.”

Konoha held Akaashi’s shoulder and leg with his arms, and suddenly a jab hit his right thigh. Akaashi barely felt the needle enter, though, his head dizzy and lungs screaming.

A few seconds later, Akaashi felt his throat give way, letting him take in a few deep gulps of air.

“Call 119, still,” Kuroo said serious for the first time since Akaashi met him.

Akaashi felt tired, drained, heard Saru on the phone with the emergency line, while he heard Komi tell Konoha, “Calm down, dude. It’s not like you meant to almost kill him.”

 

A week later, Akaashi was back to work. It was a week that included a sudden trip to the ER, Konoha bringing Akaashi a large bouquet of flowers and practically begging for forgiveness while Bokuto almost beat him (thank god Kuroo was there to calm him down), an annoyingly long conversation with his mom and dad on the phone, and the labelling of all foods in the fridge at the store. But Akaashi felt like everything was finally going back to normal. Well, almost everything. Now more than ever, his relationship with Konoha was rocky and unsteady. He barely spoke to Akaashi, and Akaashi, though he knew he should try, wasn’t really feeling up to talking with him yet. Every time Akaashi saw Konoha he wished he could just swish him away, the last thing he wanted was to converse with him.

So today, it was the last straw for Akaashi.

Akaashi had been pretty lucky so far and was doing a great job with the customers, as Komi pointed out to him one day. He had made a reasonable amount in commission sales and had even some frequent customers coming in, saying hi, and calling him by his name.

But, alas, all good things come to an end, or at least, a bump in the road.

“Excuse me!” A nasally, raspy voice rang out in the store.

Akaashi was currently manning the store front alone, while the rest of the guys worked in the back unloading a new shipment. It was a mere forty five minutes from the end of his shift, and then he’d be home in thirty, Bokuto would be over in an hour, and they'd spend their night having their weekly Movie Fright Fest.

A well dressed older woman waltzed into the shop, a walk meant to show confidence and a stare that meant to intimidate. Akaashi was familiar with these older elite types of the city. He grew up with a Tokyo socialite as a mother and a wealthy businessman as his father, after all. Typically, he could just drop his parents names and give her a sickeningly sweet smile and she’d be less to deal with. But here, she was the customer and he was the poor bastard who had to work with her.

The woman was a customer sent personally by the Devil, Akaashi was sure of it. Akaashi had rarely seen truly terrible customers, except maybe one or two, and they always got quickly handed off to Komi, Kuroo, or Daishou, who could handle even the worst of the worst, it seemed. But Kuroo and Komi were busy, and Daishou had the day off, so it was up to Akaashi to figure this lady out.

Easier said than done, he thought to himself, bringing the woman the tenth pair of shoes she had requested in the past half an hour.

“No, no, no!” she screeched at him, throwing the pair to the ground, “These are just as bad as the rest. How are you so incompetent?”

“My apologies,” Akaashi said through gritted teeth, “All you are asking for are the brown ones with the strap, though, if you could give me some more details about the one you originally saw-”

“Does this look like brown with a strap to you?” She asked rhetorically, Akaashi  clenching the hem of his shirt in his hands, “This is tan. With TWO straps.”

Akaashi was just about at his wits end. He considered grabbing Komi or Kuroo to take the sale over, but Akaashi hated giving something up, even if that something was a bratty middle aged woman with a superiority complex.

He was considering going back to the computer and manually looking through their stock, even though he knew it’d take forever, when it happened.

“Excuse me, Ms.? Are these the ones you were looking for?” A familiar voice asked behind them.

Akaashi turned to see Konoha, in his familiar garb of faded jeans, cardigan, and beanie (seriously does this boy know anything else to wear?) holding onto a pair of brown heels with a single strap across the top, a pair he knew for a fact didn’t pop up when he searched the system earlier.

“Ah! Yes! And in my size, too!” The woman grabbed the box from Konoha to try them on.

Konoha turned to Akaashi looking at him with hopeful eyes. But Akaashi looked away fast. He was pissed and more than just a little embarrassed. What gave Konoha the right to come over here and show him up like that to the customer? At least the customer was taken care of though and Akaashi would be out of here quickly.

“Could I speak to the manager please?” The woman asked after trying them on and bringing them to the front register, where Konoha and Akaashi stood behind it.

Akaashi sweated nervously, worried about what she’d say to Komi, but nodded, and was about to head to the back to grab him when Komi stepped out from behind the black curtains, along with-

Akaashi felt like evaporating into thin air if he could.

The man was someone Akaashi hadn’t seen before, but had heard of. He knew it was him from the serious expression on his face and the way just his presence made him feel like he was towering over everyone else in the vicinity, his hair grey and wearing thin rimmed glasses. Yumiji, the business owner that Komi had warned him about. Well, Komi didn’t actually warn him of Yumiji, just told him he’d stop by often. But right now, Akaashi felt sick to the stomach at the sight of him.

“Are you the manager?” The nasty woman asked.

Yumiji noticed her and smiled brightly. “The business owner, ma’am. How can I help you?”

She pointed directly at Akaashi and he felt his heart sink into the deepest pit of his stomach.

“I’ve been in here for forty five minutes- forty five minutes! - and this good-for-nothing couldn’t help me at all. He was slow, incompetent, and knew nothing about your guys’ stock. But him-” She pointed over at Konoha, whose face turned almost as white as Akaashi’s was now. “This young gentleman immediately helped me and found the right shoes when he saw the ridiculous, incompetence of this one here.”

A point back at Akaashi.

Incompetent. Slow. Ridiculous. The words kept playing over and over again in his head. He could already hear some low, whispered voices. Voices he hadn’t heard in months.

 

_She’s right, you know?_

 

_Shh, don’t listen to her._

 

_Loser..._

 

Not here, he thought to himself, he couldn’t have a breakdown here of all places.

Yumiji seemed to take all of the woman’s ranting in, and apologized for the time it took to find the shoes. He didn’t once mention Akaashi or Konoha, or even look at them. Once the woman left, Yumiji asked Komi to see him in his office, Komi turning to give Akaashi what he thought was supposed to be a reassuring smile before heading with him to the back. But the smile looked forced and pitied, and the voices were growing in volume.

_Why do you have to be so incompetent all the time?_

_They all think you’re a mess._

 

_Probably gonna get fired, you deserve it._

 

“Hey.”

Akaashi looked over to see Kuroo now leaning on the counter next to him, a strange hint of anger he had never seen Kuroo have before was now dancing in the corners of his eyes. He thought at first that it was aimed at him until he heard Kuroo speak again.

“Don’t worry about her, ‘K? She’s a nasty bitch, always coming in complaining about something,” he said, “Next time, don’t feel bad about calling me or Komi in. We all have shitty customers. Don’t worry about it.”

Akashi nodded, but still felt as if he was drowning in all the voices in his head ( _idiot, you are always such a loser)_ . He was desperately trying to process them ( _breath for a second, you’ll be fine)_ , and push them back into the furthest part of his mind ( _Why do you even try?)_. He didn’t need them right now. He didn’t want them. But as he kept pushing them back, they grew meaner, more resentful.

“A-Akaashi? I’m really sorry, I was just trying to help-”

Akaashi felt a gentle hand on his shoulder, Konoha’s familiar warmth. But right now, on the verge of having one of his “episodes” ( _your father was always right about you_ ), it felt like a stinging, overwhelming burn.

Akaashi slapped his hand away, hard. Konoha looked stricken, both Kuroo and Konoha obviously surprised at Akaashi’s sudden reaction ( _Now you’ve done it, dipshit!)_. But Akaashi was one step away from losing it, his hands shaking and he felt the sweat and pressure building under his skin, and he couldn’t find it in him to care about Konoha’s hurt feelings.

“Next time you want to help,” Akaashi spit, “Don’t.”

Akaashi walked away into the back room. His shift was officially over, and he couldn’t stay around to hear Komi or Yumiji lecture him. He would break ( _Of course you would, whimp)_. And he couldn’t break in front of them. There was only one person he could break with.

He grabbed his bag and headed out the door without giving anyone a goodbye, only giving Kuroo a headnod. As soon as he was out into the busy street, he pulled his phone from his back pocket and shakily typed.

 

 

To: Bokuto-san

911, meet at my place pleas?

 

From: Bokuto-san

Be there in thirty. Hang on.

 

Akaashi felt the tears beginning to prick in the corners of his eyes but pushed them back. He’d have time for that when Bokuto was over and he would be there to control him and give him the stability and calm he so desperately needed in these times. But not here. He scrambled for the headphones in his bag, put them in his ears, and played the first song that popped up on the screen when he entered his music library. The loud beats of the music were turned to full volume, hurting Akaashi’s head but for once, the music overpowered the voices, and that was good enough.

And if Akaashi had to step into a private restroom on the way home and sob until he had enough posture to go back out into public, no one would know.

 

Later that evening, when Akaashi was groggy from taking his emergency meds, the voices were finally mostly gone from his head except the feminine one he called Sakura that whispered reassuring things in his ear ( _Relax, everything will be fine now)._  The last of the snacks Bokuto had brought with him were gone, and Bokuto was leaning on his shoulder while quietly singing along to _I Won’t Say I’m In Love_ from the Hercules movie, when Akaashi heard a buzzing from Bokuto’s phone and looked over to see the screen light up with ‘Tetsu-kun  <3<3’.

Akaashi snorted. “Tetsu-kun?”

Bokuto laughed himself. “Shut up, he’s worried about you.”

Akaashi looked nervous for a moment. “You didn’t tell him about my-”

“No,” Bokuto said back immediately, typing away on his phone, “Of course not. I just said you sometimes got a bit too emotional in situations but would be fine tomorrow. He’s also asking if you want to come to a party Friday night.”

Bokuto looked up at him, hope filling his eyes. They hadn’t been to a party since the end of their freshman year together, and Akaashi knew how much Bokuto loved them. Akaashi found them to be repetitive and burdensome, but he liked Bokuto being happy, and he knew that since it was Kuroo asking him, a friend to both of them, Bokuto would only want to go if Akaashi went to. Akaashi sighed, turning back to the television, trying to ignore Bokuto burning holes into his head with those golden eyes of his. This is how Bokuto got him to most of those silly, freshman parties.

“I don’t know,” Akaashi said, leaning into his best friend, playing with the hem of the old, owl-patterned, blue PJ shirt he had on, “Everyone from work will probably be there...”

“Yeah, that’s true,” Bokuto said, still watching him through narrowed eyes, “That’s what people do when they host parties, invite their friends, have fun, duh ‘Kaashi.”

Akaashi snorted again. “But that means, well, Konoha...”

Bokuto, finally getting Akaashi’s hesitation, turned his attention back to the television, carefully nodding in understanding. “True. But you work with him. Can’t ignore the guy forever, you know?”

Akaashi sighed. Bokuto had a point.

Bokuto rarely made a point, but when he did, Akaashi knew he had to accept it.

“Alright, we’ll go to the party I guess,” Akaashi said, letting his hand dip into the almost empty bowl of heavily buttered popcorn that sat in Bokuto’s crossed legs.

Bokuto shot up suddenly, glee filling his eyes like a five year old, almost knocking over the bowl onto Akaashi. “Yes! I knew I could count on you, ‘Kaashi!”

Bokuto immediately settled back into his side again, texting Kuroo back quickly, a large grin playing over his face. Akaashi smiled contently. It’ll be worth it, just like all the other parties, if it made his best friend this happy. For all that Bokuto did for him, leaving work early, rushing to his apartment with food, holding him while he feel to pieces, and helping him pick those pieces back up, this was the least he could do for him. He’d be a goner without him.

“Just pass me the Red Vines, Bokuto-san.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for reading! This chapter took a lot longer than expected, mainly because as I started writing it, I realized I didn't really understand the point I was trying to make with this fic. So I had to take time to re-plot and develop the story line more.  
> Also I want to add right now, I am giving certain characters mental illnesses. Schizophrenia, Schizoaffective Disorder, Major Depression, and Anxiety will make an appearance in the story. I want readers to know this now in case one of these makes you feel uncomfortable or triggered. I have personal experience with anxiety and depression, and am doing my absolute best to research these (not just the symptoms but case studies, reading people's personal experiences, etc.) and especially schizophrenia and schizoaffective disorder before adding them to the story. I want to respectfully cover these topics in the story as mental illness is something not well spoken about and deserves good and thoughtful representation.  
> That being said, I'm really excited to finally get this chapter out though and excited for what's to come for the story. Also, sorry if there are spelling errors, I re-read this like five times already but there still might be a few so I'll re-read again in the morning.  
> And don't worry, this chapter was hard on them but next chapter will be so much tooth rotting fluff, I can't wait! Thanks again, and if you wanna chat, come talk w/ me at kitty-kozume on tumblr. :)

**Author's Note:**

> So I wrote a KonoAka one shot the other day, that ended a bit sad. So that inspired me to write something to give my Konoha some happiness. That idea turned from being a one shot idea to a story that I have 10 chapters planned out and more developing. Either way, hope you enjoyed and don't forget to leave a kudos and comment if you did. :)


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